Kamikazi
by SupremeMasterOverlordKhurro
Summary: It had happened so fast, Keith doubted Lance would've even noticed it in time to move out of the way. "Lance!" He heard Shiro call over the radio, but the only answer was static and Blue was still going down. Keith turned and went after it, watching as the giant metal beast struck the hard ground of the moon they were fighting around, and it burst into flames. *3yrs after season 2*
1. Chapter 1

**I am a horrible person, and if I said I was sorry I would be lying.**

 **(Shameless advertising: Check out my Voltron/Invader Zim Crossover, Intergalactic Genocide!)**

 **I do not own these beautiful characters.**

 ****TAKES PLACE ABOUT 3 YEARS AFTER END OF SEASON 2****

Keith was the one who saw it happen. It took him a minute to even realize what he was really seeing. It was the final battle, the very last one, before the universe would be free from Zarkon's empire once and for all. They had already killed Zarkon, now it was just the final resistance, the Galra who were desperate to not become prisoners. And one of them had just flown directly into the face of the Blue Lion, like a Kamakazi plane hitting an Allied war ship during WW2 back on Earth. It had happened so fast, Keith doubted Lance would've even noticed it in time to move out of the way.

"Lance!" He heard Shiro call over the radio, but the only answer was static and Blue was still going down. Keith turned and went after it, watching as the giant metal beast struck the hard ground of the moon they were fighting around, and it burst into flames.

Galra ships cut him off, and Keith snarled as he tried to fight them off. He had to get to Lance. Even if the other guy drove him up a wall and made him want to bash his head against a table, that was his teammate. It took Keith 30 minutes to finally fight through the Galra ships and get down to the surface of the moon. He launched himself out of Red as fast as he could, racing over to the flaming wreck that was once the blue lion. The smoke and the dust was thick, but somehow, he made it to the cockpit and spotted Lance's limp body crammed up under the dashboard. He was bent wrong, there was no way a human should be in that position. There were burns on his skin and gashes. More than one broken bone. What gave Keith a little bit of hope was the fact that some of the cuts were still having a steady flow of blood leaking out of them. That meant his heart was still beating. Lance was still alive. Alive, that meant there was a chance.

Keith knew there were certain injuries where it was best to not move to victim until a professional came, otherwise you could risk further damage. But there was too much smoke and no official 'professional' here. So he grabbed Lance's shoulders and pulled him out. Lance groaned, but he was unconicious. Once he got Lance's body out from under the dashboard, he bent down to pick him up. He didn't lay properly in his arms though. His back was kind of arched, not relaxing down like a limp body was expected to do. Keith didn't have time to think about that though, because he needed to get out of here.

By the time he climbed out of the rubble and got through the thickest of the smoke and dust, he saw that Shiro, Pidge, and Hunk had landed. Shiro was checking that the Garla who had crashed into Blue was dead. Keith hadn't even noticde that the ship was still there. Hunk and Pidge had been calling for Lance and Keith, but stopped as soon as they spotted Keith stumbling over the broken glass and shards of metal with Lance in his arms. Pidge moved first, Hunk seeming to be to shocked by the sight. This was his best friend he was seeing being carried out of the rubble.

"Is he alive?" Pidge asked as she got closer. Keith put him down on the closest thing to a flat surface he could find, away from the smoke.

"Yes." He said, before coughing some of the smoke from his lungs. Lance's breathing was shallow and ragged, strained. Hunk and Shiro finally made their ways over.

"What happened? All I saw was Blue going down." Shiro asked, already bending down beside Lance to see what he could do.

"That Galra ship dive bombed him. Lance didn't have any time to move out of the way or shoot at it." Keith bent down beside Shiro to try help. There wasn't much they could do. Pidge was already calling Allura and Coran to bring the castle closer and to get a healing pod ready.

The response that came over the speakers in their helmets made Keith's blood run cold.

" _We aren't sure how long the healing pods are going to work, the crystal was damaged pretty bad!"_ Coran said. " _The ship is running on the reserve!"_

Hunk looked like he was about to have a full-blown panic attack. Shiro was working faster, trying everything he could think of to at least stop the bleeding.

"We need to get him into the ship, at least. He can barely breath." Keith said, and Shiro helped him pick him back up and move him into Red. Red lowered it's head and opened it's mouth so they could enter, and they strapped Lance down in a little room made for long trips and emergencies. Keith had only realized it was there a year after finding Red. There was a tiny toilet, a little single bed, and a tiny area to store clothes. It was quite convenient for longer flights. After they made sure Lance was strapped down securely, Keith got into the pilot's chair and Shiro left to get back in the black lion. He would be carrying Blue back to the castle.

Keith flew fast and hard to get back to the castle, being the first one to land. Coran and Allura were already there, and met him on the ground as he carried Lance out of the lion. The blue paladin's breathing was getting fainter, and he had stopped making noise.

"Quickly. We'll get him into one of the pods and that should at least have enough power left in them to stop the bleeding and easy his breathing. Hopefully to fix any broken bones too." Allura said, and lead the way back through the halls. Since the pods required someone to stand in them, it was a little hard. Lance's back was still arched. Keith was beginning to suspect that it wasn't pain making it arched. He was pretty sure Lance's back was broken. If he made it through, the chance of him standing, let alone walking, would be slim.

The strapped him into the pod and closed it, having nothing else they could possibly do. Coran set it to work on the injuries that could be fatal first. If they could keep him alive, they could find another crystal and have a better chance at healing the rest of him.

*three Earth-days later*

The castle was slow. It could not move very quickly on these reserve crystals unless _everything_ else was shut down. They would need to shut down anything that wasn't the engine. They couldn't jump through a wormhole because the machine was broken again. They didn't have enough people to hold the Hunk's make-shift disks either, nor any conveniently timed case of the Slipperies to shine them with. Their best hope was to call for help from allies and other planets. They were looking for healers as well as Balmeras.

And always, someone sat outside the healing pod, watching Lance's charts, making sure he was still alive. The pod was barely working. It had stopped the bleeding and some of the bigger gashes were now reduced to scars, while the smaller cuts had already healed on their own. Some of the bruises on his body were still angry looking, but they were not fatal injuries. According to the charts, he had had a punctured lung which was now healed along with 2 of 4 broken ribs. The two that were not yet healed were the less damaged of them. But perhaps the most alarming injury was his back. It was still broken. When Hunk had asked why the pod hadn't fixed it yet, Coran had shrugged sadly and said that wasn't considered a mortal wound. It was broken, but in this case, wouldn't kill him.

Hunk was the one sitting outside the pod now, watching Lance's body with a sad look. He didn't think this was fair. Lance had the biggest family out of all them, and he used to always talk about wrestling with his brothers or playing tag with his younger siblings. He was the most active out of all them, had been on the track team for a while too before going to the garrison. While his pilot skills had not been too great, he had passed all his physical tests with flying colors, top of the class in that area. But broken backs normally resulted in paralysis.

He wondered now if they would be heading back to earth. No one had talked about where they would go after the final battle. He assumed Pidge would go and try to find her brother and dad again. That was something they hadn't managed to do yet but now with the Galra defeated, she had the chance. Keith and Shiro would probably go with her, Shiro because he felt responsible and Keith because he had nothing better to do and no one to go home to on Earth. But Hunk's parents were still on Earth, and he missed them and he missed the food, the people, and everything about it. And now he had so many stories to tell, and he couldn't wait to share them. But he had also made so many friends out here in space, and had grown to like it out here too. Maybe there was a way to live in both? Would he get to keep his lion? Because maybe then, he would be able to come out to space and visit whenever he wanted.

Hunk was so lost in thought, he didn't realize the beeping of the pod or the hiss as it began to open. It was only when he saw the shadow did he realize it was open and he had just enough time to reach his arms out and catch Lance before he could hit the ground. The light of the pod faded. And Lance was lying unconscious in his arms, pale and a little sweaty, but alive.


	2. Chapter 2

**Heads up: Vomiting, catheters, and medical stuff. I'm trying to make this somewhat realistic? Despite the fact it takes place in space with robot-spirit-lion things and crazy alien planets and whatnot.**

When Lance woke up, the first thing he registered was the intense pain he was in. Everything hurt. His head was throbbing and he could feel the pain spreading through his body. It was blinding pain, the kind that made it impossible move and that made his stomach churn as if he was going to throw up. The second thing he realized was that he laying in a bed. His bed, the one on the castle. He was propped up a little, not quite sitting but not laying all the way down either. He couldn't remember how he got here or where the pain came from. He had been fighting the Galra in Blue, he could remember that, but then everything simply went black. He had to figure out what was going on.

He blinked his eyes open slowly, only to close them again. It was too bright, and made it feel like knives were stabbing into his skull.

"Light…" He croaked out.

"Quick, turn off the light!" He heard someone whisper sternly. "I told you that would make him worse!"

"Well I didn't know!" Came the spiteful response.

"Lance, the light is off. Can you hear me?" Another voice asked. Shiro. That's who's voice that was. Lance groaned and his eyes fluttered open again, but didn't open all the way. He didn't have the energy for that. "Tell me what hurts."

What hurts? Everything hurts. Everything.

"Everything."

"Can you move your fingers?"

It took him a few ticks, but finally he managed to make a weak fist with his right hand, then his left.

"Your toes?"

He tried. He honestly did, and it was frustrating him that he couldn't tell if they moving. He tried to lift his head a little to see, but Shiro carefully put a hand on his chest and pushed him back down. He was looking at Lance's feet, and not at his face.

"Are they moving?" Lance asked, already fearing the answer. The longer he was awake, the more aware he was becoming. Shiro didn't answer.

"They aren't moving." Keith answered for him, but wouldn't look at Lance. Lance began to panic. Why could he move his toes? He tried as hard as he could, but he couldn't do it. He couldn't tell if they were moving. Maybe he broke his toes? His feet did feel weird. Numb but not numb? Not quite pins and needles, not exactly like they were asleep either. He couldn't explain it. He looked around the room. Everyone was there; Allura, Coran, Keith, Shiro, Hunk, Pidge…

"What happened to me? Why can't I move?" Lance could hear his own voice. It was small and scared and hoarse. He tried to move his legs, to swing over them over the edge. Even moving them an inch would make him feel better, feel like he was in control.

"You were hit." Keith said. "A Galra ship collided with you head on, going a lot faster than normal. The blue lion hit the ground and when I got down to you...you were crushed under the dashboard. Your back was broken, four ribs broke, a punctured lung...there was a lot of internal damage. If we were on Earth, you would've died." His voice was quiet, as if he hated to be the one to bring the news.

Lance didn't believe him. No, no that's the stuff that happens to other people, not to him. This must be some prank. Sure, he felt like he had been hit with a massive ship and slammed into the ground, but a broken back? No, it couldn't be true.

"Y-you're lying." He shook his head, then stopped as it made him dizzy and the nausea from reminded him it was still there. "You have to be lying, you have to…" He could feel his voice breaking. He didn't want to cry, not in front of everyone like this. While he wasn't shy about crying during movies (like really, who _didn't_ cry during _Marley and Me_?) or sometimes of joy, but this? This was a mixture of actual physical pain and absolute fear. Lance's great uncle had been paralyzed in a war years ago, and he couldn't do anything on his own. Lance didn't want to end up like that, he couldn't.

He looked at Shiro. Shiro was the leader here, he was the older human. "He's lying, Shiro, right? He's just messing with me, that's what we do." He was begging, praying, pleading for Keith to be lying. Wishing with every ounce of his body that this was some prank.

"He's not lying, Lance. I'm so sorry." Shiro shook his head. Lance looked at the others, hoping them would break and just tell him it was a lie. But none of them did. Hunk was crying. Allura didn't look far from it either, and Lance knew she probably blamed herself for it. But Shiro probably did too. Hell, the all probably did! That's how teams worked, when something went wrong they would all take the blame just so someone else wouldn't have to. But was there really anyone to blame for this?

"Maybe it's a temporary paralysis." Pidge suggested. "Sometimes people can go through physical therapy and get full function back in their limbs. Or maybe there's some way to fix it out here. Most of these planets are so much more advanced than Earth. We'll find a Bulmera and then find a planet that can fix you." She gave him an encouraging smile, trying to cheer him up. Lance figured she had a point. Maybe there was a chance. Maybe he could still recover a little more.

"Lance? There are a few more tests I want to try." Shiro drew his attention back to him. "Some of them might be a little personal. Do you want the others to leave?"

"What do you mean by personal?" Lance asked. Shiro gave him a look and he understood. Not wanting to talk, he nodded. The others hesitated, but left. Allura turned around at the door and tried to give them a supportive smile, but Lance didn't return it. He didn't think he could.

Some of the 'tests' weren't too horrible. Shiro who poke a finger at a point on Lance's legs or his stomach and ask he if felt it. Lance would give a small nod. He could feel the fingers, but not quite the way he used to. It was different somehow. He couldn't explain it. Some places he felt a lot sharper than ones -mainly by his ribs, which were bruised and broken. The closer to his arms, the more he felt. He could almost recognize the feeling. But below the rib cage, nothing felt the same anymore. It was all off, some strange feeling. Shiro had poked him with both arms, the metal one and the real one. Lance couldn't tell the difference without looking at them.

Shiro asked Lance to lift his arms. He could lift the only a few inches off the mattress before it hurt too much and Shiro let him put his arms down. He had to close one eye and count how many fingers Shiro held up, then close the other and do the same thing.

The other tests however were miserable and humiliating, but he knew they were important. Probably a little more important health wise than the previous tests. Shiro wanted to see if Lance still had control over his bathroom needs. Some people would lose control over them because it involves muscles. Others still held a little control over it. Lance would have rather done anything else than have to do these tests with Shiro. With anyone, for that matter. It wasn't that he wasn't confident in himself (though now his confidence was definitely not high as before), it was just a kind of personal that he didn't want with Shiro. With any of the team, for that matter. Doctors were bad enough! The results they got were that Lance had very little control, but still some. He could feel when he had to go, but it, like all other feelings were seeming to end up, did not feel the same. It would take some time to get used to the new feeling, and until then...Well, it would have to be some strange alien catheter.

Lance had only ever needed one of those once before, and that was after he had his gallbladder removed and ended up having a hard time waking up from the anesthesia properly. While most people have few complications with that procedure or with anesthesia in general, Lance's bladder had simply not woken up like it should've. It had been a painful, uncomfortable, and bloated few hours in the ER waiting room after being sent home too soon. He had been young then, but he could remember it had not been very comfortable.

This one however, was more advanced. It was made by Alteans. Instead of an uncomfortable tube, it fit more like more like thicker plastic underwear lined with something soft and had a vacuum like hose activated by a sensor that would pull any waste into a container that would disintegrate it. It was more sanitary, a little more comfortable -but far from comfortable- and made it hard to move (that that staying still was going to be much a problem). It wasn't visible though, as long as he had a blanket over his legs. The only part that was visible was the container that sat on the floor by the foot of his bed. This was a thing made for bed rest. Lance hated it. And he couldn't look at Shiro at all while it was fitted.

By the end of it all, Lance was humiliated, exhausted, and felt absolutely awful. It was like his head was on fire and he was sweating but at the same time, he was freezing. His stomach was still very unsettled and he was dizzier and more nauseous now than he had been earlier when he woke up. He wanted nothing more than to sleep and wake up to find it had all been some super awkward nightmare.

"Drink this." Shiro said, holding a straw to Lance's lips. "Slowly. It'll make you feel a little better."

Lance took a small sip then gagged. Hard enough that it hurt. His stomach wanted to push up anything that was there, but it was empty. There was nothing to come up.

"No more." Lance turned his head away. Whatever that still was, it was horrible. As if he didn't feel sick enough without it.

"It will help-"

"It'll make me sick."

"Lance-"

"No. Leave me alone."

"Not until you drink a little more. It tastes awful, I know, but it will help you sleep and will ease some of the pain."

A few more ticks of arguing, and Lance tried a little bit more, if only to get Shiro to leave him alone. This time, his stomach did manage to send a little of something up. Thankfully with Shiro's quick reflexes, he had the little trash bin ready and mess was avoided, at least on the blankets. Shiro sighed and put the bin down and the cup, grabbing some tissues from the nightstand and wiping Lance's mouth and chin. Lance couldn't lift his arms up high enough to it himself. He threw the tissues into the bin and looked back at the cup. Puking up even that little amount caused so much pain that Lance's hands were shaking and a few tears had escaped again.

"No more…" He shook his head, closing his eyes. "Leave me alone."

"Lan-"

"Leave me alone!" Even raising his voice hurt. It hurt so much, everything hurt! What had Keith said? Broken ribs? Definitely, he knew what those felt like. He broke a rib when he fell out of a tree when he was 6. He heard Shiro sigh and felt a cool hand on his forehead.

"I'm so sorry, Lance." Shiro's voice was quiet and he wiped Lance's sweat-soaked hair off his forehead before leaving the room and pulling the door closed quietly.

Not to his surprise, the rest of the team was waiting by the end of the hallway anxiously.

"How is he?" Allura asked, being the first to notice Shiro come out.

"Exhausted. In pain. We're going to need to find something else to kill the pain, because he can't stomach..whatever this juice is." He handed her the cup. It was still mostly full. "He's paralyzed from the waist down definitely. His arms are very weak, but I think he can probably regain strength in them. Pidge, I want you to try to make a back brace for him. It's not good to just leave it broken with no support. Hunk can help you find the parts for it and put it together when it's ready. No one tease Lance about this or make cripple jokes. I'm sure he'll joke about it eventually, because that's what he does, but for now, don't." Shiro looked at the group in front of him. "The rest of us need to find a way to get this ship moving faster, so we can Lance real help."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey, any feedback would be great. What do you think of the story so far? Is it crap? Is it actually enjoyable? How out of character are the characters? What did you have for dinner? I'm thinking tatertots and maybe some ice cream.**

Pidge had been working on designs for about two hours now. She had the basic idea down and there was just one more thing that was needed: measurements.

"Hunk, come help me with this!" She called out, and the big guy looked up from the food he had been making.

"But I'm almost done-"

"Finish it later, I need help measuring Lance."

Hunk sighed but left the plate and followed Pidge from the room.

They opened the door to Lance's room as quietly as they could, in case he was sleeping. And he was, though he was sleeping fitfully and making small noises, face twisted in pain. His breathing wasn't even and sounded harsh due to the broken ribs. Hunk frowned. This was his best friend in the whole world, and he was in pain and there was no way that Hunk could ease that pain for him. He hated it. He was sure that it was worse for Lance, of course, but still. He wanted to help more than just helping Pidge make a back brace. For now though, that was the best he could do. And he'd be damned if he didn't make sure they made the most comfortable back brace possible.

It was pretty easy to see where the break was. It was a few inches above the middle of Lance's back where he was bent, almost as the top ¼ of his body had leaned forward without the other ¾ following. In short, it was unnatural and painful looking. It seemed that Shiro had cut Lance's shirt off, since the torn and bloody piece of fabric was now in the little trash bin and Lance was shirtless. The blanket had fallen down a bit, revealing the black and purple swelling around Lance's chest and the extreme swelling around the area of his back that was broken. There was sweat on his forehead as well, though he was shivering a little.

"Do we have any heated blankets on here?" Pidge asked quietly as she pulled a few things from her bag.

"We might." Hunk shrugged, already taking mental notes of the amount of swelling and the angle of the break. Pidge began to quietly take the actual measurements, being extremely careful to not actually touch Lance. She would whisper the numbers to Hunk, who would scribble them down on a notepad she had shoved in her hands. Finally, she took a step back.

"Ok, got them all." She said, taking back the notepad from Hunk. While Pidge put her stuff away, Hunk very carefully pulled the blanket up more so Lance wouldn't be so cold.

Once they got back outside they hurried to start making the plan. They needed to finish it as soon as possible because Shiro was right. They couldn't just leave Lance's back hanging like that, with just pillows for support. It needed something firmer to hold it. They asked Keith to find heated blankets for him as well.

Keith had a little more luck finding heated blankets than he expected to. They were soft and a part of him wanted to take one back to his own room, but he knew Lance needed them more. He made his way down the hallways as quickly as he could until he got to Lance's room and pushed open the door. What he saw when he opened it wasn't a good thing. Lance's face had a blue-ish tint to it and the only sound in the room was the strained, raspy gasps of breath the blue paladin was trying to take.

"Shiro, Allura, Lance is in trouble!" Keith called over the intercom. There was button for it in each room, just in case one of them needed it. This was the first time it had been used. Keith tossed the blankets to the floor and rushed over to the bed even though he wasn't entirely sure what he could possibly to do help. Pidge and Hunk had been in here only about an hour ago, what would've happened had Keith not come in at this time? When had it started?

"Lance? Can you hear me?" He asked, just to see if Lance was conscious. Just because he could barely breathe didn't mean he couldn't hear. And to Keith's relief, it appeared that he could hear because he opened his eyes a little and looked at him. His eyes were scared and in pain, though honestly there wasn't much else Keith would expect to see in them right now.

Shiro got there a few ticks before Allura, but he couldn't do much more than Keith. When Allura came in, she knew what she was doing. There were still parts of this ship that none of the paladins knew about, and one of those was the emergency oxygen masks placed in random spots. Allura pulled one from a hidden spot on the wall -why was it hidden?- and slipped the mask over Lance's head. It looked almost identical to the ones on Earth, except a little more comfortable and less bulky. It took only a few ticks for it to kick in and start working. Lance closed his eyes again, appearing to relax even though he couldn't physically move his body.

"What happened?" Shiro asked Keith.

"Pidge and Hunk came in to take measurements and then asked me to find heated blankets for him while they designed the brace. When I came in, he was turning blue." Keith gestured to the pile of blankets on the floor, before looking to Allura. "Why was the mask thing hidden?"

"It wasn't hidden. We needed there to be as much room as possible to move, so we put it in the frame. I just forgot they were there until now." She explained. "The old paladins were told they were there."

Keith wanted to tell her she should probably figure out what other things were forgotten about in this ship, but held his tongue. He would bring it up later, when he was less likely to snap at her. He moved back to the blankets and picked them back up, spreading them over Lance and turning them on. Lance was still covered in goosebumps and a few parts of him were shivering. Shiro put a hand on Lance's forehead again, though Lance showed no signs of registering it. His eyes were still closed.

"He's burning up." Shiro frowned. "He had a temperature earlier too, but it's a lot higher now. How far are we?"

"We actually have found a planet that might be able to help. It's been a giant prison for a while under the Galra, since the people who once lived there disappeared without a trace. However, recent reports have sightings of the original species and say that they've been breaking into some of the camps and administering medical care to some of the prisoners and attacking the guards. Like an underground resistance. If it is the original people from that planet, they are very skilled healers." Allura said. "We'll arrive there in about a day and a half."

"We can't go any faster?" Keith asked impatiently.

"No, not unless we find a Bulmera between here and there. And so far, none have come up on the radar."

"Could the lions travel faster?" Shiro asked. "He needs help now. I don't know if he can last another day and a half."

"If the lions go and you guys get in trouble, there's no way we could get to you." Allura didn't seem completely opposed to the idea, but she didn't seem too confident either.

"We don't have much of a choice at this point, Princess. We've done pretty good as a team, if the remain 4 lions are together then we should be able to hold our own in the fight, even without Blue. Otherwise…" Shiro's voice trailed off, but the way looked over at Lance said it all. If they didn't get Lance help, there was a chance he wouldn't make it. He would die, and they would need to find a new pilot for the blue lion. "Even if Hunk and Pidge don't have the brace ready by tonight, we need to get Lance medical help."

The princess nodded. "Then Coran and I will send the coordinates to your lions and try to get a message to the planet. The Galra may be defeated, but that doesn't mean people aren't still on edge."

Hunk and Pidge were filled in on the new plan and were working faster on the brace. It was almost done, thanks to the technology of the ship and the intelligence of the two working on it. The lions were packed up with provisions to last about an earth week, along with a few simple first aid things. The biggest risk would be if something were to happen on the way, there was no healing pods or hidden oxygen masks or anything on the lions. If Lance made a turn for the worst on the flight, then there was very little chance of him getting better.

They had decided that since the red lion was the fastest, that's the one they would carry Lance in. With any luck, they would get there within a day. No one knew exactly what had caused this sudden fever, when just a few hours before he had been okay. They also decided that Lance was not to be left alone. Someone would be in the room with him at all times until he got the care he needed. And at the moment, everyone was in Lance's room. Lance was awake for now, though he wasn't very alert and hadn't spoken or made any noises.

"Before you get there, you should know a little about what these creatures you'll be dealing with are like." Coran started. "First, they're a lot like Slav, but scarier."

"Please don't tell me they're as crazy as he is." Shiro groaned at the thought of dealing with another alien like Slav.

"No, no they should be a lot less crazy. They're also bigger, and very reclusive. There really isn't much known about them other than that they don't like to use technology very much and are very skilled healers. They don't attack openly very often, but rely on ambush. They're sneaky creatures, so be careful. We'll try our best to get a message out to them before you get there, but if we can't, do _not_ make any threatening moves towards one. They generally don't like to fight other species, but if I remember correctly, they'll find it very easy to pull one of you down." Coran explained. The team nodded and then Pidge and Hunk pulled out the brace.

Putting it on was a little difficult, since the smallest movements sent waves of pain through Lance's body. Shiro held him up, and Lance's breathing quickened, face twisting in pain, and Pidge quickly slipped the brace under him before they laid him back down and strapped it in the front. It was lined with a soft, cushiony material so it wouldn't poke or rub and was shaped to Lance's broken body. The brace covered most of his back, from the waistline of his pants to his shoulder blades, where it became more narrow and made a half neck brace. The straps went over his shoulders. The sides of the brace curled up around his chest, helping hold his ribs in place too. Lance was transferred to a stretcher and then loaded up into the red lion. They strapped him onto the bed so he wouldn't get thrown around if the flight got rough and laid the blankets back over him as he fell back into an uneasy sleep.

The coordinates were set.

The hanger doors opened.

The the four lions lept out, pulling away from the castle quickly.

Once Keith was positive that Red would bring them to the planet they were aiming for, he went back to check on Lance. While he had video feed to the room (thanks to Pidge), he figured it would be better to be there in person. He was afraid to let Lance sleep, to be honest. What if he never woke up? Sure, they got on each others nerves and they argued and competed to one-up the other, but at the end of the day, they were still a team. Keith was relieved to see that Lance was awake again when he entered the room. Groggy and not very oriented, but awake.

"Stay awake, Lance. We're almost there."

"Hm."

"Talk. Tell me something about your family. It's pretty big, right?" Keith wanted to keep Lance awake, get him talking, remind he had a family at home on Earth he had to get home to.

"Big." Lance confirmed. "Seven kids, almost eight…"

"Almost eight?"

Lance gave the smallest of nods. "Mamá was pregnant. A baby girl. Baby sister."

"Who else did you live with?"

Lance was nodding out again. "Family. Big family."

"Who else?" Keith urged. "Tell me about one of your siblings. Who were you closest to?"

"Sister. Baby Denverr…." He trailed off, closing his eyes.

"Stay awake, Lance. You need to stay awake." Keith insisted. Lance's eyes opened again. He was so out of it, disoriented. "Tell me about Denver. What did you guys do together?"

"Sing." Lance answered wistfully. "John Denver was her favorite. She wanted to live in Colorado."

"How old was she?"

Lance frowned, eyebrows furrowed as he thought about the question. "Six."

There was a beep from the front and Keith glanced back to where the pilot's seat was. The planet was in view now. "We're almost there, Lance. I need you to stay awake, okay? The team needs you to stay awake." Lance just blinked at him but Keith didn't have time to put much thought into whether that blink was one of understanding or incomprehension. He hurried back to the pilot seat and pulled his helmet back.

"This is the right planet?" He asked.

"Looks like it. Move in slow. There's a camp over there, that's probably our best bet to finding these creatures." Shiro confirmed.

They landed the lions and Hunk and Pidge were sent to scope out the camp before bringing Lance down. The less they moved their injured friend, the better. The camp they had landed by had been transformed into some kind of refugee camp. The gates that had once held the prisoners in were now wide open and people of all species moved in and out of the various buildings, some leaning on others while some were carrying supplies from one building to another. They had landed the lions just out of sight of the camp, and it appeared that no one here had noticed them.

"We should find whoever took charge here, they'll be more likely to have the information." Pidge suggested as the walked forward.

Hunk nodded in agreement. "Should we ask who's in charge? We might not have time to walk around aimless looking for him or her."

Hunk waited for a response, but none came. "Pidge?" He paused and turned around to see if his small friend was still there. She was, but she was frozen to the spot, staring straight ahead with the strangest look on her face. "Pidge? Hello? Hunk to Pidge, do you come in?" He waved his hand in front of her face, but she pushed his hand away.

"Matt." She said.

"Uh, who? I'm Hunk."

"No, no, there's my brother! It's Matt!" And with that, she ran forward towards someone who was unmistakably human and standing just a few yards deeper into the camp. Hunk watched for a second before registering what was happening. Matt was Pidge's brother. They found Pidge's missing family.

 **Ta-da! So what do ya think? Leave me a review please, I'm a lonely person!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Looking at how advanced it appears the technology in the show is, I believe it is safe to assume the show started sometime in the future. Therefore, certain policies will be different.**

 **I'm not sure if this will actually be mentioned in this chapter or not, but I figured I should point it out now before I forget.**

At the sound of his name Matt had looked up and Hunk had watched as the long-separated siblings were reunited. Matt was taller than Pidge (let's face it, everyone was taller than Pidge) and even though he was clearly undernourished he was able to pick her up off the ground. They hugged each other closely and watching made Hunk miss his own family even more. And the thought of family made him think of Lance, who might not even get to see his family again if they didn't get him help now.

"Hey, I really, _really,_ hate to be the one to ruin this moment, but Lance needs help. Like... _now._ " He pointed out but it took a minute before the Holt siblings to even register he was there.

"Who?" Matt asked, before seeming to realize that he didn't know Hunk either. "And who are you?"

"They're part of my team, this is Hunk. Our friend Lance got seriously hurt, broken back and all that, and he's sick on top of it and really needs help. We came here hoping that there was some chance someone is a healer or the sightings of the native species were true and that they'd be willing to help us." Pidge explained quickly.

"Oh. Yeah, the natives have shown up occasionally. They would sneak in and attack the guards regularly and sometimes come help with healing. There's one that does most of the communicating for us. His name is Schuwertzhund, but has most people call him Hund for short. Follow me."

 **(A/N: Schuwertzhund pronounced Sch-wertz-hund. Yes, it's basically 'black dog' in German because it sounds cool. And I am aware that it is not spelled the proper way in German, that's done on purpose.)**

Matt lead the way through the camp, occasionally waving to some of the other aliens that they passed.

"Where's dad?" Pidge asked.

"Probably with Hund. They've been working together on getting everyone back on their feet. What about you? How did you get out here, what's been going on at home-"

Before Matt could finish his questioned, Keith's voice came over the communication in their helmets.

" _Have you guys had any luck yet? Lance is getting worse."_

"I'll fill you in later, we need to hurry." Pidge said, and they picked up their pace until they were almost running through the camp. They came to a stop at a building near the center, where a giant ferret-dog-cat thing was sitting outside beside the door. It had black fur that almost looked blue and purple with how shiny it was. It's eyes were a lavender but it somehow made lavender look threatening. A long, probably 4ft tail was curled around six paws while two arms hung from the sides, a clipboard in one hand and a writing utensil in the other. It looked like Slav, but much more deadly and with a more dog-like face and a cat like tail.

Big, fluffy ears pointed in their direction as they approached and the creature looked up.

"Schuwertzhund, this is-"

"I know who they are." Schuwertzhund put the clipboard down. "As soon as those lions landed here, the planet told me exactly who they were. But not why you're here. The giant metal beasts prevent that."

"Our friend, Lance, is really sick and really hurt and we were told your kind are great healers. He needs help. Please." Hunk explained it quickly, wishing they would stop talking and just get moving. Schuwertzhund tilted his head as he considered this.

"We have lots of sick and injured to take care of. Why should we help yours?" He challenged, not looking like he would get up to move any time soon.

"Because he's one of the paladin's of Voltron! He's my best friend! He has a family at home he needs to get back to! What reasons do you want?" Hunk growled.

"What lion is he in?"

"He pilots the blue one, but is in the red one right now." Pidge answered.

"Very well." Schuwertzhund stood on 6 of his legs, stretching before bounding away in the direction they came from.

"Is he going to the lions?" Hunk looked to Matt to see if he would know.

Matt shrugged. "Probably. They don't explain much of what they're doing or where they go."

Hunk turned to Pidge. "Pidge, if you want to go find your dad go ahead. Just make sure your helmet is close enough."

Pidge hesitated. "No, I'll come with you back to Lance." She looked at Matt. "He's basically family too at this point. I need to make sure he's okay."

"Dad would understand. And he's not going anywhere anytime soon. Come on."

Some unspoken agreement that Matt would come with them lead to Hunk leading the way quickly back to the lions.

Of all the things that Keith has seen these past few years, the last thing he expected was to see a giant ferret-seal-porcupine with 6 legs and 2 arms manage to get into the lion without him noticing. It came up beside him as he sat by the bed Lance was on.

"Uh, who are you?"

"Schuwertzhund." It answered, sniffing around Lance's body. "And your friend's best chance at surviving. Pick him up and follow me." It turned around and trotted off, and Keith figured he had no other option than to do what he says. Hunk had told him over the communications that a native was heading over anyway.

Lance didn't make a sound as Keith picked him up. As he came down the ramp that was Red's mouth, he saw Hunk, Pidge, and someone else with them. It wasn't hard to figure out it was Pidge's brother. Shiro was already down and talking quietly with the guy Keith assumed was Pidge's brother.

Schuwertzhund sat up on his hind 4 legs and his fluffy bat-like ears twisted around as he listened. It was almost like watching a meerkat look for danger. Once everyone was in one place, before they had a chance to say anything, he bounded away again off towards a part of the planet that seemed empty, outside of the fences of the camp.

"Who's this guy?" Shiro asked. Pidge was the one who explained it. A native, that was good. Maybe Lance had a chance. Lance had stopped answering Keith's questions and had started struggling to breathe again a few ticks before Schuwertzhund had showed up.

The native paused by a cave enterance to make sure that the others were still following behind him, before he dove into the cave. Keith and Shiro exchanged a glance before following him. The tunnel was dark and they had to walk single file for a while before it opened up into a massive cavern with tunnels leading off in different directions. In the center of the cavern was a silver pond that lit the whole room. A few other creatures like Schuwertzhund lounged around, looking up when they entered. Schuwertzhund brought them to the shore of the pond and sat again on his hind 4 legs.

"Lay him in the water." He instructed. "It's properties will stabilize him if the pond sees him worthy, and that will allow us to heal what we can more efficiently."

"And if it doesn't see him worthy?" Shiro challenged, putting a hand in front of Keith before he could move forward.

"Do you believe your friend is worthy?" Schuwertzhund put his other two legs down and wrapped his tail around them like a cat.

"Of course I do." Shiro nodded.

"Then trust that your opinion is right and lay him down. Quickly, or he will be beyond our power to heal him."

Shiro hesitated a tick longer before putting his arm down and letting Keith step forward and carefully lay Lance in the pond, face above the surface. The pond began to glow and the water rose until it was engulfing every part of Lance besides his face. The twisted look of pain that had stained Lance's face disappeared and was replaced with one of content. His breathing seemed to even out and no longer sounded like he was struggling to take every breath.

Keith looked around the cavern at the other natives, none of whom seemed very concerned about these newcomers. Rather, they seemed curious though they didn't come closer. At least, he didn't realize any came over until something pounced on his foot and he looked down to see a very small native -a baby, he assumed- gnawing on his boot.

Schuwertzhund growled something at it in a strange language and it jumped off, hissing at him before bounding over to Shiro and standing on it's back two legs, pawing at the paladin's leg.

"Ignore the pups." Schuwertzhund said, standing on his 6 legs and walking over to push the pup down. It hissed at him again before running off. "They haven't met any other species before."

"They're cute." Matt had 3 of them crawling all over him, a dark blue one curled around his shoulders and swatting at his hair, a pink one being cradled in his arms, and a white one sitting on his head proudly.

"Only until they reach the juvenile stage. Then they get nasty." Hund snorted, and as finished speaking, the light on the lake dimmed back down and he turned back to the water. "He was declared worthy." He looked up at some other of his kind and made a clicking noise like a bat. A few others lifted their heads and came over, and four of them came over, swimming across the pond, and picking up Lance and carrying him away. When the team tried to follow, Schuwertzhund blocked their way.

"You can't follow. Stay."

"What do you mean, stay?" Hunk asked, looking frustrated.

"Stay." Schuwertzhund repeated before bounding away after Lance.

"You can trust them." Matt said. "They work in private, but they work very efficiently. Besides, if you try to follow them, they won't help them. They're whole civilization is built on trust and honesty. If you lie to them or break their trust in any possible way, they're a force to be reckoned with."

Keith growled at this, but it didn't seem there was much more of a choice.

A little bit later the group was sitting in a circle around a fire, waiting for word on Lance. So far, there had been none. Matt was explaining to Shiro (and Pidge) what had happened after he had gotten separated from Shiro turning that gladiator fight. He had been with the Blade of Mamora for a little while before he and his father were captured and sent here, where they had been since. During his time with the resistance though, he had helped prison breaks on multiple ships. The only reason he had gotten captured was because it was so hard for a human to disguise themselves this far out in space and with his bright hair, he stood out like a sore thumb.

They had decided they would stay here for a while after Lance was better, just to be safe. They would make sure that Lance was okay, then Shiro, Pidge, and Matt would go to find Mr. Holt. Hunk couldn't tell who was more excited by that, Shiro or Pidge. Both showed excitement in different ways, but they were definitely both excited. Hunk and Keith would stay with Lance. No one was in any rush to leave him alone just yet.

It felt like _hours_ before Schuwertzhund approached again.

"You're friend is awake. His injuries are healed, but there was nothing we could do for his back. He will be paralyzed for the rest of his life." Hund explained. "His sickness earlier was not caused by the injuries however. That was likely that juice he claimed he was forced to drink. Even if he hadn't been able to hold much down, a little must've stayed because the sickness was an allergic reaction. Those foolish Alteans think they have the answer to everything but fail to realize that not everyone can stomach their concoctions. So come, he can see people now." And with that, Hund stood again and trotted off. The other paladins practically lept to their feet and rushed after him, Matt taking up the rear since he had never actually met Lance.

When they entered the strangely lit cavern and Hund slipped away, it seemed as though Lance was sleeping. His eyes were closed and he was laying down on soft-looking sand. Most of the bruises appeared to be gone and it didn't sound like every breath was a struggle.

"I think he's sleeping." Hunk whispered too loudly.

"I'm awake." Lance spoke up, his voice a little hoarse. He kept his eyes closed though.

"How do you feel?" Shiro asked, being the first to approach him closer. He squatted down and pushed Lance's hair away from his sweaty forehead.

"Woozy." Lance said. "Dizzy."

"Are you gonna puke? I don't think I see a bucket anywhere or anything besides the ground.." Hunk was nervous, and therefore rambling.

Lance shook his head very slowly. "There's nothing left to throw up. I just need rest."

He finally blinks open tired blue eyes, turning his head a little to look over to them. Nothing in his face is like the old Lance. He looks exhausted, emotionally drained, _broken._ He scans each of them, as if needing to assure himself that they're all there. When his eyes land on Matt, he looked confused and looks back to Pidge, then back to Matt, before back to Pidge. "You found them?"

"Yeah. Matt helped us find Schuwertzhund." Pidge nodded.

Lance closed his eyes again. In a way, it was like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Coming from a big family, being the middle child, there was nothing Lance understood more than siblings. When he had found out that Pidge was really a girl and looking for her brother and father, he had tried his best to make sure she still had someone else there like a brother. He had felt as protective of her -of all them, really- as he did his siblings. To him, Pidge was another little sister. Now that her real brother was back, he could relax a little knowing she had the brotherly support that she should have. Now if only he could get back to his own brothers and sisters.

Lance ended up falling asleep with that thought in mind, and no one bothered trying to wake him. One of the strange natives came up again. This one was different. She appeared less threatening, more like a cat. She had long fur, a pale yellow and her eyes a little brighter.

"He's a lucky person." She purred, sitting on her 6 legs and petting Lance's hair with her hands. "His injuries should have killed him. Without the Altean healing pod, he would not have lasted nearly as long as he had. I suggest you find someone to build a contraption to help him move around. He has a restless soul, and will not transition easily into his new life of paralysis. An interesting variable to this however will be that he can still feel. The motor neurons and nerves are damaged beyond our repair, but not the sensory ones. They're damaged, but not destroyed. He can still feel, just different than he used to. That will either make the transition harder or easier." She explained.

Hunk sat down beside Lance, sniffling. He still couldn't believe his best friend gotten so hurt. He grieved for Lance, for all the things he would no longer be able to do with his siblings. Would being paralysed effect his flying too? If he could regain the strength in his arms, surely he would still be able to pilot? And maybe he could help engineer a some new machine to help him walk again. Maybe something like Shiro's arm? Keith moved to lean on the wall behind Hunk. They would be staying with Lance while Shiro, Pidge, and Matt went back into the camp to find Pidge's father.

"We'll be back soon. If anything happens, call us." Shiro made them promise, before he turned and followed the reunited Holt siblings from the room.

 **This chapter was a mess. Like words just got puked onto a google doc and left there. I apologize for the horribleness of this chapter, hopefully the next one will be a little more organized.**

 **Please review, I'm a lonely person! I'll answer questions!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I don't understand where people get the last name of McClain for Lance? That's not a Cuban name, is it? Besides Shiro and Pidge, I don't even think there are confirmed last names for the characters.**

Hunk and Keith had been sitting with Lance for about two hours by now. Lance was still fast asleep. It seemed like his body finally let the exhaustion take over, because he was in that dead sleep that comes only in complete exhaustion. The kind that takes a while to wake up from, the kind that makes your limbs heavy and keeps you in one place for hours. Not that Lance would have been able to toss and turn anyway.

The other two paladins however had grown bored. The natives didn't really come over much, and Shiro hadn't returned yet. He had let them know however that he was helping the former prisoners in that camp though, so they knew he was fine. While Hunk was content to sit and fiddle with his thumbs, Keith was not. Hunk had watched him pace the room, examine the walls, try to shine his armor with his sleeve, and sprawl out on the ground in defeat.

"Hey, do you have his phone?" Keith asked, looking up from where he laid on the ground.

"Yeah. Why?" Hunk looked at him suspiciously.

"Let me see it." Keith sat up, ignoring Hunk's question. Figuring there wasn't much choice, Hunk handed him the phone. Pidge had fiddled with it and found a way to charge it while in space, much to Lance's relief. A week with it dead had been brutal for everyone, because Lance had trouble sleeping without music, didn't like the Altean music, and couldn't focus during training because lack of sleep.

Keith scowled when he saw there was a password and took a few guesses. When he got to the last try, he had to think hard. Lance was full of surprises, as he had shown during their time in space. Then it hit him. _Earth_. Lance was pretty open about how homesick he was. While he knew how important their mission was, Keith often heard Lance mumbling to himself that he has to do it for home. For earth. He typed it in and it worked. The phone unlocked and Keith took a minute to look at the background. It was clearly a picture of Lance before the whole Voltron thing, and he was grinning. A little boy, maybe 3, sat on his shoulders, laughing while a little girl, maybe 7, hugged his waist. Wrapped around his legs were clearly twins, a boy and a girl about 10. They were looking up at him with big smiles on their face. Behind Lance stood a tall man in a military uniform and a woman just an inch or two shorter than him. Both were too young to be his parents, so Keith figured it was safe to assume these were Lance's siblings. It was such a simple picture, clearly taken at an unexpected moment. The love and joy on their faces wasn't the kind you see when it's a planned picture.

The apps were surprisingly organized into folders, though it was possible that was done out of boredom one day. That was something Keith had realized about Lance the longer they were out in space. When he was bored, Lance would organize things. Usually in some strange way that no one else understood, but it was still organized. He pressed the music app, and clicked the playlists tab, and wasn't too surprised to find that the most played one was labeled " _Home"_. What was surprising however, was the list of songs when he pressed it.

"Neil Young? John Denver? These are so old...they don't seem like him at all." Keith snorted.

"Those are more for his siblings." Hunk said. "He said one of them, I think one of the twins, is autistic. They like the older music like that. And his sister Denver, loves John Denver music because he has the same name. So Lance memorized the songs and would sing them to them."

Keith flipped through some of the other playlists. They were full of more modern songs, some Spanish, some English, all different genres and artists. Getting bored with the music, he decided to look through the camera roll. Now that could be dangerous, considering it's _Lance._ You never knew what he had pictures of, and you never knew how exactly he would react to someone seeing the pictures. But, he was fast asleep right now, so there was no harm in looking.

There were a few more recent pictures of space, some planets, stars, the mice. Then they became pictures from the Garrison. A few selfies with an unsuspecting Hunk in the background, selfies from in the simulator, a picture of Lance passed out and drooling that must've been taken by Hunk, a picture of Lance's name on the list of Fighter Pilots. There were a few more before he got to the pre-Garrison days. There was a large dog, a mix breed if Keith had to guess, running after the twins. Pictures of Lance's sibling and other kids that must've been cousins running around, playing, sometimes dressed in formal clothes, somethings in swimsuits. There was a picture of Lance with his sister sitting on a surfboard. She had the biggest smile on her face, looking over the edge into the water below her, and Lance looked so happy and at peace sitting there watching her that Keith felt like he was trespassing. He left the pictures, instead scrolling through the list of apps. Since there was no way to connect to the internet, there wasn't much that the phone could be used for anymore. Keith locked it and handed it back to Hunk, who shoved it back into his pocket.

By the time Lance stirred, Hunk had fallen asleep. Keith was dozing off too, before the sound of Lance groaning made him look up. He watched quietly as Lance slowly blinked his eyes open, looking around groggily until his eyes finally rested on Hunk and Keith. The other two paladins had sat in a place where they were sure to be seen if Lance turned his head.

"Keith?" He squinted at him, as if he couldn't see him right. "Can you scratch my foot?"

"You'll kick me!" Keith protested.

Lance gave him a droll stare. "Seriously?"

"Oh. Right." Keith moved towards Lance's feet. "Which one?"

"Left. The top of my foot feels weird. I think it's itchy."

It was a very weird thing to scratch the top of your friend's foot. Of all the things Keith has done with Lance, he was pretty sure this was near the top, along with when they got stuck in the elevator and had to go back to back and climb up the shaft.

Lance made a pouty face. "Now it feels even weirder. I don't know if scratching it did anything."

"What does it feel like?" Keith asked curiously, pulling his hand back.

"I dunno. I can't even describe it. It's just...weird. I don't like it." Lance sighed. "Where did Shiro and Pidge go? And where are Allura and Coran, for that matter?"

"Shiro and Pidge went to go find Pidge's dad in that camp we found, and they're stay there for a bit to help some the old prisoners back to their feet. Allura and Coran are still on their way. They needed to either find a Balmera or fix the wormhole thing." Keith explained. "And Hunk and I were put on baby sitting duty."

"I don't need to be baby sat." Lance protested.

"Yeah, it's not like you can get into much trouble anyway." Keith snorted, and Lance glared at him. But it the good glare, the competitive one that Keith often saw on Lance's face. He was no offended by this cripple joke. He took it as a challenge.

"Just wait. Once my arms work again, I'll get in twice as much trouble and blame it on you." Lance stated, trying to pick up his arms again. He got them only a few inches, less than 6, off the ground before he had to put them back down. It hurt too much and took too much energy.

"Whats the last thing you remember before getting here?" Keith asked, putting the joking aside.

Lance thought hard for a few seconds. "Uh...that nasty juice stuff that made me sick. After that, everything gets kind of fuzzy."

Keith nodded, and more for the point of having something to do, went on to explain what had happened. He started with how he had found Lance struggling to breathe when he brought him the heated blankets, then the decision to use the lions to transport him to the planet, Hunk and Pidge finding Matt, meeting the strange natives, and then sitting awkwardly waiting for the healing process to finish. Lance listened and kept flexing his fingers. It was almost as though he didn't even notice he was doing it.

Several hours seemed to pass before Lance spoke again. He had been laying there quietly, so un-Lance-like, seeming to be lost in thought.

"Did you guys bring my face stuff?"

"Face stuff?"

"My cucumber mask? The exfoliating stuff?"

"Oh. Yeah, I think Hunk grabbed it." Keith moved over to the backpack that was lying next to Hunk, who was still out cold. He pulled it open and dug inside. There were various little things in it. Random wires, a shirt, a little book -Keith would inspect that later- and eventually he found the little bag inside it that Hunk had thrown some of Lance's skin care stuff into. "It's here."

"Can you put it on for me? And turn on my music."

"Can I do what now?" Keith looked at Lance with an eyebrow raised.

Lance rolled his eyes. "Put my mask on my face for me. I can't get my arms high enough yet."

"Why do you need it now? None of the natives are going to really care how you look. No one really cares either way, come to think of it."

"I care, and it's not just so keep my skin as perfect as it is, but it helps me sleep. So does the music. The password is 'Earth'."

"You've already slept a lot-"

"Just do it, Keith, it's not that hard. Don't make the paralyzed insomniac have to lay here and yell until Hunk wakes up." Lance grumbled, closing his eyes.

Keith frowned, but did it anyway, starting with the music. "Which playlist?" He asked, but he knew what the answer would be.

"Home." Lance confirmed, without even thinking about it. Keith pressed it and Neil Young's song 'Dont Let it Bring You Down' came on.

 _Dont let it bring you down, it's only castles burning…._

Keith pulled out the facial stuff and looked at it, but had no idea what any of this was. He had never used any of this stuff.

"Uh, how does this stuff work?"

"You're hopeless." Lance sighed. "The big green one that has purple cucumbers on it. Put some of the cream on your fingers, then rub it in clockwise circles on my face, _gently._ Dont try to rub it all the way in, or else you'll be there forever. Get an even coat over my whole face."

"Ok." Keith did as he was instructed. All the while, wondering how in the world he had ended up in this position. Once, he was on the Earth living in a shack trying to find the source of the strange energy he felt. Now, he was in the cave who knows how far from earth, sitting on the floor and applying face cream to a paralyzed Lance. Surely a change in pace, that was for sure.

A few ticks after starting, Shiro, Pidge, Matt, and another man who could only have been Mr. Holt walked into the cavern. As they got closer, Keith's hand accidentally slipped a little and went over Lance's eyelid.

"Not my eyes, you fucktard!" Lance complained, turning his eye away and his arms twitched as if he had tried to lift them to smack Keith's hand away.

"My hand slipped, I didn't mean to get your eye!"

"Well get it off my eyelid then, it feels weird!"

Keith hurried to wipe it off his eye, while the other approaching looked amused.

"What did we miss?" Shiro asked, noticing Hunk asleep, the mess of facial cleaning products scattered across the ground, and Lance's disgruntled expression.

"Shiro, Keith is an awkward fucktard and you need to fix it." Lance stated matter-of-factly. Keith glared at Lance. Pidge choked.

Of course, they could tell Lance wasn't being serious at the moment, because he had that tone in his voice that said he insulted with brotherly love.

"I could just stop and leave you with half a mask on."

"No, keep going. I want to sleep."

"I could just knock you in the head really hard." Keith suggested.

"No thanks, I'll pass on that. I've had enough concussions to last me a lifetime."

Keith continued to apply the mask to Lance's face as everyone else settled down on the floor, talking quietly about their next move. It wasn't very long before it seemed like the music and the mask was working, because Lance's breathing was slowing down and his face was relaxing. He had been sleeping a lot lately, but perhaps that was for the best.

Once he was sure that Lance was asleep again, Keith wiped the remainder of the cream on his pants and went to sit by the others. Hunk was awake now too.

"So whats the plan now?" He asked.

"Do you remember the planet that we fought that cube thing on?" Pidge asked. Keith nodded. "We're going there. They have the technology that they might be able to make Lance some kind of wheelchair or mobile suit of some kind, so he can get around on his own again. Of course, not until Allura and Coran get here. Once we get that suit though, we'll decide decide whether to head back to Earth right away, or help some of the planets get back to their feet." She explained.

"Has anyone heard from Allura or Coran?" Hunk asked.

"Yeah, they're almost here. They should arrive some time tomorrow."

"Maybe we should split up when they get here." Keith suggested. "Someone take Lance, and maybe the Blue lion to get it fixed. And the rest of us start helping some of the planets recover and reorganize themselves."

"It's a good plan, but there might still be little bands of Galra trying to regain power."

"So? We've all become better fighters. We can work faster if we split up."

"We'll think about it. For now, I think it's safe to say we've all had a crazy few days. Get some rest." Shiro decided, and that ended the conversation.

Keith went to sleep thinking about it though. They needed to get Blue fixed, that was a given. Even if the Galra empire was defeated, they still needed all the lions functioning. And then there was the fact that Lance was paralyzed. Even if they managed to make a suit that would help him move, he would need time to adjust to having on and learning how to use it, not to mention he still needed some time to recover. The natives had done a great job, but there was only so much they could do. Lance would still need to mentally accept that he was paralyzed. And while he was joking a little today, Keith could tell that was just a shield. A coping mechanism. He had a feeling it wouldn't be long before the reality really hit Lance, and it would hit him hard.


	6. Chapter 6

"Why is Voltron made of lions?"

"I don't know."

"Do you think there were lions on Altea?"

"I don't know."

"Or maybe aliens actually did help build the pyramids in Egypt, and while they were on Earth they saw some lions and thought they were the most majestic things ever. Maybe lions were the first animals they saw, so they decided that lions would be great to make a giant robot."

"Sure."

"But then why is Voltron a more human-ish shape? Why not just a giant lion?"

"Lance, why don't you ask Coran or Allura these questions? Or better yet, go back to sleep."

"Allura and Coran are doing their diplomatic stuff, and I've been sleeping for _hours._ I'm tired of sleeping."

Lance had been asking Keith random questions for the past hour and a half. He had woken up about two hours ago, but had been disoriented and confused at first. Then just quiet. Then obviously boredom struck and his mind was left to wander around in search of various questions.

Keith groaned. "Why am I stuck sitting with you again? Why couldn't it be Hunk?"

"Because they needed him to move things in that camp. Can you help me sit up?"

"You should stay laying down still. Give your back more time to heal." Keith sighed.

Lance groaned. "We've been here for a week already. I've been in the same position for a week. A whole week. Seven days. Hund has been doing those healing things every day, and it's not going to get any better anymore. _Please_ Keith, I want to sit up." He begged.

Keith glared at him for a few minutes, before looking around. It didn't seem like any of the others would be back any time. Allura and Coran had arrived three days ago and since then, had been meeting with various other alien species on this former-prison, making alliances and assuring the people that they would protect them. Plans were being made to go to the Olkari soon to see if they could make Lance some kind of mobile suit so he could get around on his own and they could find someone to help fix the Blue Lion, but everyone had been too busy trying to help some of the former prisoners. Honestly, Keith was ready to suggest someone take Lance and Blue to the Olkari while the rest stay here. Just to get it out of the way so he could stop listening to Lance's questions and complaints.

Finally, Keith got up and moved over to Lance, putting his hands under Lance's arms and dragging him over to the wall, propping him up against it. The catheter machine rolled along with him, parking itself beside him. Keith then went back to where Lance was lying and grabbed the blanket he had, tossing it over Lance's lap. The blue paladin was appeared like he was leaning awkwardly forward thanks to the break in his spine, but chances were that would never go away. He would always look like an awkward hunchback now.

"When are we leaving this planet? Or even leaving this cave? I'm sick of seeing the same stone walls every day." Lance complained. "Let's go to the Olkari, then back to Earth. It feels like we've been in space forever."

"Technically, we have. Earth does float in space-"

"Shut up, Keith, you know what I mean."

A few precious moments of silence.

"If there's no oxygen in space, how do our jetpacks work? They use fire."

"UGH."

Two hours passed before the rest of the group finally came back. Keith was about ready to push Lance into the spirit pond and leave him there. He had thought it was bad enough when Lance could talk and move around, but now that he was paralyzed he was even more annoying.

"Should you be sitting up?" Hunk asked upon seeing Lance.

"Yes. What's it like outside? How are the ex-prisoners?" Lance waved off the question.

"It's warm out, and sunny. Their all doing good and plans are being made to transport them back to their home planets. There's a few from the Balmera, some Olkari, those giant grub looking things with the strange voices from that shedding acid planet...And a whole bunch we've never seen before. Or that we've seen around but never learned about. Even a few of Slav's species, so we should be able to get rid of him soon too." Hunk sat down across from Lance as he explained all of this.

"I wish I could help." Lance sighed and leaned his head back. "I'm getting tired of just sitting here."

"You won't have to sit there for long. We'll be moving on soon and heading back to the Olkari, probably in about two days. They'll hopefully be able to make you something to help you move around." Shiro said, settling down in his usual spot in the circle they would sit in.

"Then are we going back to Earth?" Lance asked hopefully. Shiro nodded and Lance smiled. Home, they would be going home soon. Just one more stop.

"I stink." Lance announced after a few minutes of silence. "I can't remember the last shower I had."

"It was a while ago." Hunk provided, taking a bite out of some kind of alien energy bar.

"I feel gross. I want to shower." Lance stated. But he knew he wouldn't be able to do it on his own. He couldn't even sit on his own, he would just fall and drown. And his arms weren't quite strong enough yet either.

"The healers can bathe you." Schwartzhund came up from behind Shiro, making the older paladin jump. "They will be able to make sure you do not drown." He sat back on his back 4 legs, tail twitching around as a pup jumped around and tried to hold it down. The team had recently learned that the pups that had run over last time were Hund's. They also discovered that when someone startled any of the natives, their "fur" was actually more like porcupine spikes and would stand up like a bunch of spines on a cactus. They had fangs as well, wicked sharp ones and retractable claws like a cat. Basically, these rather peaceful looking otter-creatures could turn into spikey hell-demons when they felt threatened. It was thanks to Coran for accidentally stepping on the tail of one of the others that they learned this.

While this definitely made the idea of having one bathing him a little frightening -there were places he certainly did not want to get stabbed, even if he couldn't exactly feel things like he used to- he desperately wanted a bath. He wanted to feel clean again. So he agreed and the four females who had worked on healing him came back in. The females had the porcupine spikes as well as long fur like a maine coon cat. The four who would help him didn't speak english, but they understood it. One was a lavender color, and that was Hund's mate. The other was a dark, dark green, almost black. The third was a red-orange, and the fourth was silver-gray. They picked him up and carried him effortlessly down another corridor -how big was this cave system?- and put him back down in once they got into a small cavern that was glowing from the light of one of the many magical springs that popped up on his planet.

As they began to remove his armor, Lance found himself feeling a little anxious. He hadn't had anyone besides his mom bathe him, and that had been when he was a little kid who hadn't yet know how to do it on his own. He wasn't sure how the healing process had gone, if these creatures had undressed him for it or not, but seeing as his uniform had looked pretty beaten up when he had woken up he was pretty sure they hadn't needed to. While Lance was not shy, he really wasn't sure he wanted a bunch of strangers to see him naked. Not like he had much of choice at this point though. They were already removing his pants and his boxers went next.

None of them said anything or even seemed phased as they picked him up again and brought him to the "water". This was very strange water, because it was super easy to float on. They let his head stay on the land, while the rest floated on the water. Then the scrubbing began. They each had clothes, and there must've been some cleaning properties in the liquid already because every part that touched the water already felt cleaner. The four of them didn't miss anything. They cleaned between each toe, behind his ears, belly button, there wasn't an inch of his body that they didn't wash. When they got to his hair, two of them pulled him further into the water and the other two massaged the water into his scalp and it felt wonderful. Why did it always feel so good to have someone else wash your hair? Lance's older sister had worked in a hair salon for a while and would sometimes practice on him and his siblings and he loved whenever she would wash his hair because her fingers would work magic, especially if he had a headache or if his allergies were acting up. It was one of the few things that could help him fall asleep as well.

It was over too soon, and they were pulling him out of the water and drying him off. And that's when he felt that odd feeling in his lower stomach. He wished he could pinpoint it, but by the time he did, he knew he was too late. Not being able to move he could deal with. But not having control over his bladder was a blow to his pride that he wasn't sure he'd be able to restore any time soon.

"I'm sorry, it just snuck up-"

The lavender one cut him off by making a purring sound and rubbing her head against his chin, like a cat. None of them seemed bothered by it at all, even though Lance felt like his face was going to just melt off. Humiliating enough to have to have otter-cat-porcupine-things have to wash you, but to basically piss yourself in front of them? They waited patiently for him to finish before moving away from it and cleaning up.

Then they pulled some new clothes out after putting his back brace on. They were simple, looking more like sweatpants and a baggy sweatshirt and of course, they were blue. Where they had found them -or maybe they made them- he wasn't sure, but as the natives pulled them on he could smell the fresh scent of clean clothes. They were comfortable too, not rubbing irritatingly at the sensitive skin. Before they put his pants back on, the catheter was put back in place, then the underwear and pants. Dried off and dressed in fresh clean clothes that reminded him of pajamas, the natives picked him back up and carried him back to the cavern with the others.

Much to Lance's relief, they were all already asleep. He wasn't sure he wanted to face any of them right now. The natives laid him down in his spot on the soft, comfortable sand and did as they had seen the rest of the Voltron team do for him: put his headphones on, play his music, and apply his face mask. He had been sleeping so much lately that he was surprised when he felt himself dozing off again. Maybe it was just that feeling of being clean, in clothes that reminded him of pajamas, that helped him relax and put him to sleep so quickly.


	7. Chapter 7

Finally, they were leaving for the Olkari. Shiro carried Lance this time, and brought him onto the castle ship, which had been fitted with a new crystal. Shiro set him down on the couch, propping him up in the corner so he could stay up without much trouble. Hunk walked behind them, holding the machine that was attached to Lance. After he put down, a blanket was draped over his legs. Lance was a little out of it, more so because of the heavy meal the natives had given them before sending them on their way. It was basically the equivalent to a thanksgiving meal, so everyone was comfortable with a stomach full of warm food. Pidge and Keith had already retreated to their rooms once they were assured that the ship was ready. Lance had insisted on not going in his room however. He wanted to be able to see out of the windows, because he was sick of looking at walls. He had offered his room to Matt for the time being. While there were definitely plenty of other rooms available on the ship, not all of them were furnished yet. Most still had the musty smell of a room that hadn't been touched or lived in in over 10000 years.

Hunk had offered to stay with Lance, so Pidge's dad could use his room for now. Hunk sat on the couch across from Lance and leaned back, closing his eyes. "We're almost done, Lance. We're gonna go home." He said, so relieved to be able to finally say it.

"How long do you think we've been gone, Hunk?"

"A long time. I mean, you finally have peach fuzz." He teased.

Lance made a noise of protest and was able to lift his arm to his chin to rub it. "I don't think I like it."

"It's barely noticeable."

"Yeah, but do you know how gross facial hair can get? Food can get stuck in it, drinks will get stuck in it, it'll get greasy and ruin my skin. I haven't had a pimple in years, Hunk. _Years._ What if this ruins it?"

Hunk rolled his eyes as he looked at Lance. "Dude, it's peach fuzz. It won't take much to just shave it off."

"What if I cut myself with the razor? I'll have a scar."

"Wax it. I'm sure your sisters will be happy to do so."

Lance shivered, but grinned. "They'd rip the skin off my face too."

They settled into a comfortable silence. And it didn't take long for that silence to lull Lance into sleep and Hunk was able to look him over, frowning. How unfair was this whole thing? His best friend was crippled. Hunk could tell he was struggling with this, even if he put on a happy face and joked about it. He knew that Lance was wondering how he would be able to run with his siblings, knew he was worried about what would happen when they got to the Olkari, knew he was worried about what would happen when his family saw him.

Even Hunk was a little worried about what would happen with the Olkari. Would they even be able to make something that would help Lance move around, without it seeming too far fetched for Earth? Pidge was the one with the closest relationship with the Olkari and their connection to everything. It took focus, something that Lance often struggled with. He used to joke and say Lance had the attention span of a goldfish. Lance had argued saying it was more like a squirrel at least. And they had laughed and joked like that well into the night many many times. The Garrison had been simpler days. It was with those memories of the Garrison, of laughing and joking and teasing each other, of sneaking out and going into town for food and fun, that filled Hunk's mind as he fell asleep.

The next 'morning', Shiro was the first awake. He made his way to the lounge, finding Lance and Hunk both sleeping on the couch. Shiro looked down at Lance, who appeared to be dreaming. Like Hunk, Shiro was worried how Lance would adjust. Unlike Hunk, Shiro was sure the Olkari would have a way to help. Some kind of body suit or braces that would help Lance get around easier. But the problem was Earth. Shiro was even concerned how he would be able to fit in on Earth with his robotic arm. He had grown so used to it that to suddenly have it taken away would be like losing his arm all over again. Last time he had been to Earth they had drugged him and tried to test the arm. He didn't want to go through that again. Would he even want to stay on Earth?

That was the question he knew everyone was thinking. They had spent so long out here, with no other humans dragging them down, that adjusting back to civilian life would not be easy. Soldiers struggled with it all the time on Earth. Go to war and then try to go back to civilian life, it wasn't an easy task. They were never the same again. It was harder for the ones who didn't have anyone there to help them. Keith was an orphan and Shiro didn't have anyone waiting for him either. Perhaps the two would stay with Allura and Coran and travel the universe. Maybe they would try to find Slav's planet and leave him with his own kind -though he never seemed to be able to get a straight answer from Slav about where his planet is or if there's anyone else. Shiro wondered if Slav even had a place to go back to. They had found only a handful of others that looked like him in all the prisons they had gone through. Allura, Coran, Slav, perhaps they were all that were left of their kind. Keith wasn't even fully human, and Shiro knew Keith had never truly felt at home on Earth. Where Keith went, Shiro would follow.

He was distracted from his thoughts when Coran passed by the room and announced that they were almost there. That meant it was time to get Lance up. Seeing as Lance had fallen asleep without his headphones or his face mask, this would not be a hard thing to do. Lance was a restless sleeper, Shiro had learned, who used to roll over a lot in his sleep. Now of course he couldn't roll over, but he mumbled still and just didn't seem comfortable or content at all. All Shiro had to do was touch his shoulder and those blue eyes shot open.

"Are we there?" Lance asked once he recognized Shiro.

" ready?" Shiro asked.

"Always ready. Can I sit up?" He must've fallen over at some point in the night was lying an awkward position that couldn't have been comfortable. Put perhaps since he couldn't quite feel things like others, it wasn't that uncomfortable.

Shiro pulled Lance into a sitting position, again settling him in the corner to give a little extra support. Then they started his arm exercises. During the first week on that planet, Hund had explained different arm exercises that Lance could start to do to regain the use of his arms. It would start by opening and closing his fist several times, depending on how he felt on that particular day. Then just bending and unbending his arm at the elbow, as much as he could. Next would be rolling his shoulders forward and backwards an even amount of times, then, once those became easy, he could start to try to lift his arms. Someone was allowed to help him lift them a little and let him rest his arms on theirs. Lance had moved quickly through these, though they still made sweat bead on his forehead and made his arms ache.

By the time they finished these exercises, the others had woken up and gotten dressed, and they would be landing in a few ticks. Lance was watching the planet come closer, worried about whether they would be able to help or not. Could they actually make him something to help him move around? Could they fix Blue?

Hunk picked him up once they landed and carried him out of the Castle and down to the surface of the planet. The Olkari cheered the moment the doors open and the paladins along with Allura and Coran came into view. The planet looked much different than it had the first time they had landed. It was much cleaner, the people much happier, and there were more plants. It looked as though the Olkari had melded their metal technology with the plants.

After the greetings and they plesantries, Ryner lead them into a private room. Shiro had already told them about Lance and Blue over a transmission before arriving, so Lance was brought to a separate room. Two other Olkari examined him. There names were Psirc and Yenoh. They were healers on the planet and removed Lance's shirt to get a little look at the break.

"There may be a way we can straighten it a little. Just enough so you won't be so far forward." Yenoh mused, running her fingers over the break. Lance couldn't feel it.

"Anything helps." Lance said.

"And I think we can make a bodysuit to help you move around too." Psirc said, smiling.

And so the work began.

To straighten Lance's back, they would be doing an advanced surgery using technology that Earth science had yet to even breach. There were no incisions. Everything was done with a special kind of laser. They did however need to put Lance under in order to do it. It would be an extremely painful procedure otherwise. While he lay unconscious on the table, Pidge and Matt sat in the room to observe the process. Hunk had tried to stay, but the moment he saw the _bone move_ he had gotten super queasy and had to leave the room. Even Pidge had to agree it was pretty gross to watch.

While Yenoh and Psirc were working on the surgery part, Ryner and a few other Olkari were working on the suit that would help Lance move. It would be a lot like the body suits the paladins wore under their armor, but made of a tougher material. There would be a strap that was supposed to go around his neck, and this is what would send the messages down to his limbs. How exactly it worked, the paladins weren't entirely sure. But Ryner insisted that it would work. They would need to give Lance a day to recover from the surgery before they could try the suit on, but either way, they had something made.

After the surgery, Lance was out of it. He was in pain, but couldn't exactly pinpoint where the pain was. He assumed it was his back, where they had straightened his broken spine out. While he was still paralyzed, he could tell that his back was straighter before laying down was more comfortable. There was less pressure on his neck. He was thankful when they gave him a shot of something that knocked him out again however, but there was nothing worse than being in pain but not knowing how it hurt or where it hurt.

When he woke up again, he felt better. The strange pain had stopped, and he felt a little more energized than he had in days. Shiro made him do his arm exercises and eat a little breakfast before they brought the suit in though. It looked super simple and thin and Lance found himself praying that it would work. He wanted to walk again, he wanted to be able to run up to his family and hug them when they returned back to Earth. Shiro was the one who helped Lance get into the suit. This time, he was able to do the sleeves himself. Shiro pulled the neck piece over Lance's head and pulled it down to his neck. It fit like a choker and while it wasn't exactly the prettiest thing, Lance could feel the energy pulsing through it.

"How does it work?" He asked curiously, looking up at Shiro and Yenoh.

"The part around your neck touches the spine. Well, through the skin that is. It'll pick up on the messages your brain is sending to your body and then the suit will move for you." Yenoh explained. "Now, it can't be worn all the time. The suit will need time to recharge, and does so when it is exposed entirely to sunlight. Now it won't be using much energy while you're sitting down until you decide to get up, but if you're going to be sitting for a while it'll be best to just take it off to let it charge in the sunlight for a while." She smiled. "Think about standing up."

Everyone was in the room now, all waiting anxiously. Even Matt and Mr. Holt, who had never really known Lance, were there silently cheering him on. Lance focused, putting all his attention on standing. Slowly, very slowly, the suit began to make a very small vibration and Lance watched at his body slowly began to rise up and then he was standing.

 **There will be one more chapter after this! Sorry for how short and crappy this chapter was. Please review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**This will be the final chapter! I am so very sorry this took so long. This has been a crazy year, and there's really no good excuse, but here's the final Chapter of Kamikazi!**

 **Many of my stories are otherwise being put on hold due to failing muse. I hope to update To Learn To Dance soon, another one of my Voltron fanfictions!**

The trip back to Earth was a long one. They didn't rush, since Lance insisted on wanting to learn how work the suit better. There were still times when he would be wearing it, walking somewhere, and fall as he stopped paying attention to what he was doing. Sometimes he would forget to charge it, and it would shut down and he would fall again. Because of this, everyone was afraid to leave him alone. He already got a concussion after falling one day shortly after they set their course for Earth. Despite Lance's usual careless attitude, he had always been good about remembering to charge things.

Part of what was causing the problem, as Hunk suspected it was, was the anxiety of what they were about to return to. Hunk knew that Lance was worried about how his family would react. Would they remember him? Would they welcome him back if they knew what he had done? Had they moved? How long had had Lance been away from them? It was all reasonable fears, and Hunk felt the fears as well but being an only child, he had a little less to worry about. Pidge had her brother and father with her, but what would they be returning home to? Keith and Shiro didn't have anyone to return to.

Regardless, the anxiety of not knowing what awaited them at home was surely distracting Lance. He couldn't focus on learning how to work the suit the right way because he was too worried about what was going to happen when they landed back on Earth.

Another problem team Voltron was facing was where did they land, who did they send home first, and how did they all get sent home? And of course, what would be their cover story, because you can't just tell someone you basically snuck out of the Garrison, got abducted by a giant robot lion, and thrown into a crazy intergalactic war with aliens. That would land you in the psych ward of the hospital real fast. The team would need to come up with a story about how they managed to stay well fed -well, Hunk had lost a little weight on this diet of space goo- and a story for their new scars, both physical and mental.

That night at dinner, they decided to discuss these things. Lance's arms had regained enough strength that he could finally feed himself, so it still took him a while. He also needed a chair that would hold him up, since more often than not, the suit would need to be charged and he would be stuck without for a few hours.

"I think we should tell the Garrison what happened." Hunk suggested. "I mean, it could happen again. Maybe not in the next few thousand years, but if it happens again and the Garrison has records of this war, then those records could help save Earth."

"But what if the Garrison doesn't believe us? We've been missing for who knows how long. They may just think we've gone crazy." Pidge argued.

"We have Allura and Coran. And Slav is still here. Three aliens that are impossible to even try to claim they're human." Keith said.

"We can't have them try to take them in to study them." Pidge countered.

"Then we draw up the terms first." Shiro said. "We can send them a transmission when we get close enough. Iverson will listen to me."

Lance wasn't so sure Iverson listened to anyone but himself, but he didn't speak up or take part in the debating. He was anxious to get home, to see his family again, but he was also so afraid of what would happen when he got there. He was paralyzed. He would never regain the use of his legs. It was miracle he could even move his arms! Spending the rest of his life either in the suit or in a wheelchair...that was not something he had ever expected to be a problem. Sure, he had wondered what would happen if he crashed a ship one day, but he always expected that would either kill him instantly or just leave a few scratches and bruises, maybe a few broken bones. How would he get upstairs to his room, if his suit needed to charge? Or go surfing! He hadn't realized how important his legs were until he couldn't use them anymore.

In the end, it was decided that they would be going to the Garrison first. That would be the best way to avoid any trouble. From there, they would call the paladin's families and they could come and pick them up. So the next few days were spent preparing for this. They made sure to fill in Coran, Allura, and Slav on some of the basic human customs, and practiced what they would say to the Garrison officials. How they would react to Shiro's arm and Lance's suit was one of the biggest problems. Shiro was sure he would be fine without his arm. He would adapt. It wasn't like he had been given the arm right away after losing it. But Lance needed his suit. He was learning how to use it, how to walk again, having it taken away would be like losing the use of his legs all over again.

When they were within range, Shiro sent the transmission to the Garrison. He requested permission to learn and to treat with the Garrison officials, on the conditions that none accompanying him would be interrogated, harmed, or imprisoned in any way. It hadn't been easy, but the Garrison agreed and the Castle of Lions landed just outside the main building.

Keith and Hunk stayed on either side of Lance as he slowly got to his feet. The suit had been charging for a while, and Lance had been asleep for just as long. It had taken a lot to actually make him sleep, but he had needed it, even if he was slow to be waking up. Shiro and Samuel lead the way, Allura, Coran, and Slav behind them, then Keith, Hunk, Lance, and Pidge. Iverson and several other generals and officials stood by the doors.

Being back in the Garrison halls hit all the paladin's differently. For Shiro, it was a mix of regret and overwhelming joy. This is where his journey had begun, where his time with Adam had come to an end, and where he had almost been taken prisoner after crashing landing. For Hunk, it was bittersweet. He had loved the Garrison, every minute of it. This was where he had met Lance and become his best friend. This was where he had really started to hone in on his engineering skills and the place where this whole crazy adventure had started. For Pidge, it was a little bitter but also kind of nice. She had always wanted to go to the Galaxy Garrison, like her brother and father. But then they had gone missing and it became an obsession, a need to find them. She had met two guys who she now considered her brothers. And this had been the first step to finding her brother and father. To Keith, this place wasn't one of happy memories. Just anger, bullying, and bitterness. With no one but Shiro to guide him, until Shiro had gone into space and Keith had been left alone. But then, if he had never come here, never gotten kicked out, would he have ever met this group he now considered family? For Sam and Matt, it was a relief. They were home. They were back on Earth. They could finally have the whole family together again.

For Lance, it was a nerve wracking, anxiety inducing, stomach churning mess of emotions. For one, he had always dreamed of going to the Garrison as a child. It had been his goal forever. He had met his best friend here, and he had gone on the adventure of a lifetime because of his refusal to follow the rules here. But that adventure had also lead to losing his freedom to move around. It had taken him away from his family, for what he now knew had been 4 years. Four earth years had passed since he had gone into the desert with Hunk and Pidge, just to stop Keith from rescuing Shiro and taking all the glory. Four years since they found the blue lion and were dragged into war. He was very glad when the Garrison didn't offer them anything to eat, because he was fairly certain he would vomit if they did.

They were brought into a large room with a long table, and everyone sat down a little nervously. The tension in the air was almost suffocating. Shiro went first. He told them of how the original mission had gone wrong, and him, Matt, and Sam had been taken prisoner by the Galra. Then how he had crashed landed on Earth. Hunk, Lance, and Pidge went next, explaining how they had seen the ship go down, Pidge had heard the transmissions, and they had ran into the desert to get to Shiro before Keith (Keith rolled his eyes at that). Keith explained how they had escaped to his shack, the way they found the blue lion, and how it had taken them into space.

Allura and Coran explained Voltron, and the war that had been going on. Then the paladins gave the briefest summary possible for what had happened: they were the ones the lions had chosen, and they had joined in on the war to save the universe from the Galra. They avoid some of the smaller details and some of the strange missions they went on, mostly focused on the fighting.

By the time they got near the end, where Lance had his accident, three hours had passed and the Garrison members were glued to their seats, listening to every word in amazement. They were sold, much to everyone's relief.

"The Galra ship used a technique like Kamikazi pilots did in World War Two." Keith explained. "It crashed head-on with the Blue lion, at speeds we had never seen them move before. Lance was crushed under the dashboard when I found him. His back was broken. Without the technology we had out there, he would have died." He went on to explain how they had finally reached a planet where healers had managed to help him, and then the Olkari who had built the suit that he needed to get around. Lance stayed quiet, staring at the table, for once not basking in the attention. He didn't want their sympathy. He didn't want to looked at any differently. But he couldn't just get up and walk away this time, because he walked slow and with choppy movements that would only cause more sympathy. So he sat there, pretending to be anywhere else, ready to just go home and see his family.

When the paladin's finished their tale, there were several minutes of silence as the Garrison generals processed everything they had just heard. They had seen pictures too, thanks to Pidge's quick thinking before she had left the ship to grab the orange phone-like device that had pictures and recordings of the fighting and the different species they had met.

"Well." Iverson finally spoke up. "There have been rooms set up for everyone. Your parents and family have been called, and a ship is going to go pick them all up now. They should be here tomorrow. Veronica is the hall. She will show you to your rooms." He stood, and the other Garrison members stood as well. Slowly, one by one, they stood to attention and brought their hand to their eyebrow, in a salute as the paladins and their alien friends stood.

The members of team Voltorn who were human returned the salute (Lance a little shakily, since his arms were still a bit weak), and then followed Shiro out of the room. In the hall stood a girl that must be Veronica. The name made Lance's heart ache, because his big sister was named Veronica. He looked down as he walked, wondering what she was doing.

"Lance!?"

The sound of his name made him look up, and he was fairly certain his heart stopped and jaw dropped, because the woman staring at him was not just any regular Veronica. It was _his_ Veronica. His sister. She was moving before he was, and after a few steps of his own, he practically collapsed into her arms, the suit unable to read just what his brain wanted it to do. He was crying, and he was fairly certain she was too. He couldn't quite feel her arms around him the way he knew they were.

"Lance, you're home. I can't believe it." Veronica gave him a squeeze, then tried to hold him at arms length, but his legs weren't holding him up and he almost fell. Keith had caught him, having already been behind him when they had left the room.

"Whats wrong?" She asked, as it set in that he had not hugged her as tight as he normally did and that he didn't seem able to stand on his own.

When he tried to answer, he couldn't. The pain his chest, the aching pain that comes when you desperately want to cry but you are trying not to, that desperate pain of wanting to something that you know is impossible, was nearly overwhelming.

"There was an accident." Keith answered for him, and Lance was grateful. The red paladin was still supporting him, as Lance slowly regained his composure and was able to stand back up on his own. "It's probably time to charge the suit soon too. Can you bring us to our rooms?"

Veronica looked from Lance to the others, before looking back to Lance. He looked embarrassed, ashamed, and exhausted all at the same time.

"Uh, yeah. Come on." She stayed besides Lance though, the others moving to walk behind them.

Hunk was crying. Seeing Lance and Veronica reunite had brought tears to his eyes faster than onion fumes. It was amazing to see them together again, but heartbreaking to watch the confusion on her face when Lance didn't hug back as tight or when she was told there had been an accident.

And Lance would have to tell the story twice now. Why couldn't Veronica had just come with the rest of his family? Or maybe...Maybe it would be easier with her there. Maybe she could tell the family beforehand, so Lance wouldn't have to.

"There are the rooms. Bathrooms are down the hall on the left. Dinner will be brought in shortly." Veronica said, then opened the closest door and took Lance's hand, leading him in. Lance gave Hunk a mildly frightened look, before following his sister and closing the door behind him.

Hunk, Keith, and Pidge were lounging around in the room that Keith had claimed as his. While Pidge and Hunk hadn't exactly been invited in, Keith hadn't kicked them out either. He was laying back on his bed, staring at the ceiling, tossing a stress ball in the air and catching it. Hunk was fiddling with some loose wire, sitting on the floor while Pidge was sitting on the desk chair.

"Do you he's okay?" Hunk asked, for probably the 5th time.

"I'm sure he's fine. He's with his sister finally, and if his family is as close as he always says they are, they won't let his paralysis change that." Keith reassured him, for probably the 5th time.

"But he's in there, explaining it to her on his own. Maybe someone should go in and give him some backup?" Hunk looked from Keith to Pidge and back.

"Relax Hunk, I doubt he needs help telling her what happened. He's probably embarrassed enough as it is." Pidge rolled her eyes.

"But-"

"No, Hunk." Pidge and Keith said simultaneously.

"This is something he has to do on his own." Keith insisted.

Meanwhile, Lance had just finished explaining to Veronica what had happened.

"The suit needs to be in direct sunlight for a few hours every day to charge. Otherwise, it shuts down and stops working." He finished. He was laying on his bed, propped up on pillows and the wall. He had taken the suit off, with her help since he couldn't do it on his own. He usually wore the under armor from his paladin armor under the suit, because it was more comfortable that way. The suit was laying on the floor where Veronica had laid it out in the sun as instructed.

"Is it waterproof?" She asked, examining the material.

"The Olkari say it is, but I haven't tried it yet. The pool in the Castle is on the ceiling."

She gave him a look, but didn't question it. After a few more seconds of looking at the thing that gave her brother the ability to move, she got up and sat on the bed next to him. When the mattress sank and he leaned with it, unable to prevent himself from it, she put an arm around his shoulder and pulled him close.

"Well we'll have to try it. Our new baby sister, Samantha, loves to swim." She told him. "And Denver has gotten so much better at surfing." She continued to give him updates on the family, and tell him about what they had been doing while he was gone, careful to word it in a way that wouldn't make him feel guilty about it. "Oh, Lance, they're going to all be so happy. We're all so happy you're home safe. I can't wait until they get here tomorrow, and we'll all be reunited." Her voice cracked just a bit, and she put her other arm around him, and they stayed huddled like that until they both fell asleep.

Four Months Later…

If you asked Lance today to tell you about how the reunion between him and his family had gone, he wouldn't be able to tell you. It had been such a blur, such a rush of so many emotions, that he couldn't even remember it much. His mama had reached him first, and her rib-crushing hug had broken every dam he had tried to build up ever since that final battle. He had been shaking, and could barely see through the tears, let alone speak. Everyone was crying, except his new baby sister, who he already loved, and his two nephews who had come along. The suit to stand had been useless, because they had all fallen to the ground almost instantly anyway, none of them able to hold themselves up.

When they were getting ready to go back home, back to Cuba, Lance's mama had insisted that Shiro, Keith, Allura, and Coran come with them. Slav was staying at the Garrison, but the other 4 had agreed. It was useful, have the extra hands around. For one, there were less leftovers. While Pidge and Hunk had gone home to their own families, they had promised to come visit soon.

Lance had learned the suit is in fact waterproof, but his balance wasn't quite good enough to try to surf, and even swimming was a huge effort. His mama was afraid to let him go to the beach alone, but thankfully, the rest of his siblings and cousins loved the water as much as he did. While he couldn't surf, he would often sit out in the water on his old surfboard, watching Denver seem to dance over the waves or watch his younger cousins run along the beach, being chased by Shiro the Monster. Shiro was great with the kids. And while Keith didn't really try to play with them, Samantha, who was four years old, loved to brush his hair or try to have tea parties with, and Lance found his endless amusing. He loved all them. His blood family, and his Voltron family. Coran was the perfect Crazy Uncle, entertaining the children at night with his wild stories. Allura was trying her best to learn as many earth things from Lance's mother and Sister-in-Law as possible -her cooking was horrendous. With this group of supporters behind him, Lance would learn to walk with ease again. He would learn to run, to jump, to surf again. Even if it would never be possible without his suit, he would take advantage of every movement of free movement he had. He was home now.

 **Tis the end. I am so, so sorry this took me so long to write and I'm so sorry if it's a really sucky chapter. I started this story Freshman year, I think. A lot had happened in the show since then, and that kind of messed up a few things, but I worked with what I had.** **  
** **If you're interested, check out my latest Voltron story, To Learn How to Dance. It's set before Lotor loses his mind and is actually kind of a decent guy. Lotura, because I ship it, and Klance because I ship that too. Mostly Lotura for that one, a lot of fluff, and no crazy paralyzing accidents or crazy whump. That's being saved for a few one shots I may be posting here in the near future. I'm trying to be more active from now on!** **  
** **Now I really need to be studying for a test I have in German tomorrow because I have no idea what the crime words are and have to write a crime story in German for part of the test, lol.**


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